Tuesday’s Headlines: ‘Have You Seen Me?’ Edition

At the rate we’re going, if we ever want to see the new MTA capital plan, we’re going to have to put its face on the side of a milk carton.

That was the upshot of yesterday’s events, in which Governor Cuomo, MTA board members and transparency advocates went tit-for-tat over the capital plan — which no one has even seen a draft of, despite the fact that it’s due for a vote in about two weeks.

Advocates rallied around a “Build Trust” campaign for vigorous oversight, cost control and public accountability. Board members wrung their hands over being left in the dark before a statute-mandated vote. The governor, for his part, tried — yet again! — to strong-arm the troubled agency into doing his will on a host of organizational issues, by issuing a letter that made even more demands. And everyone agrees that the process has been shrouded in secrecy.

Streetsblog asks: Can we stop this insane game and get a public accounting of the transit spending we need? That’s on you, governor.

In other news:

The MTA has a new communications director — which it needs to manage all the bad press! (NYDN)

Astoria Council Member Costa Constantinides is calling on the MTA to fix the low railings on the RFK Bridge path, according to the Astoria Post. Streetsblog identified the issue and others some months ago.

Streetsblog recently spoke to Dinowitz to find out what his constituents are telling him about transit service, how he plans to use his oversight role in the Assembly, and what he thinks must be done to turn around bus and subway service.

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the region’s transit investment plan “bloated” and rejected calls for new revenue. Today, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast, speaking at a forum on best practices in regional transit governance, hammered home the need for elected officials to find new money to fill the half-funded capital plan’s $15 billion gap. “This is […]